Vancian Spells

There are those who believe it pretentious that the Vancian Order has its own spells. Spells are spells, these people say. They belong to everyone.

But to a Vance, spells are a very personal thing. Vances wear their spells (metaphorically) on their breasts the way generals display their medals. They believe they are defined by the spells they know. “A Vance is their spells,” the saying goes. So to a member of that order, it’s vitally important that they have their own spells. In fact, many Vances craft their own spells. When they do, they often attach their own name to the spell—it is their legacy. “A Vance whose spells are cast by others will never truly die,” according to another saying. For many of the order, they are closer to the spells they’ve created than they are to their own children. And since Vances believe spells to be living, intelligent beings, in a very literal way, a newly created spell is their offspring. Creating a spell is giving birth. It is creating life that perpetuates itself in the mind of other like-minded folk (other Vances).

Nothing overtly distinguishes a Vancian spell from a non-Vancian one other than that Vancian spells were created by Vances and must be prepared and cast using their unique method. It is true, however, that Vances tend to favor overt, straightforward magical effects rather than subtler ones. Most Vancian spells are flashy displays of energy with relatively uncomplicated effects.

Vance spells have levels like any spell, but they are grouped into four categories of increasing power (and increasing mental space): alpha, beta, gamma, and omega. Each can be represented by a rectangle of increasing size, available to be arranged on a rectangle that represents the Vance’s mind. If the spells can be arranged to fit within the mind diagram, the Vance can store them all at once in their mind, ready to be cast.

When cast, a Vance can choose to spend Sorcery equal to the spell’s level to hold the spell in their mind. Otherwise, the spell is cast (with no Sorcery cost), but it is gone until it is prepared and stored once again. In the case of casting a spell with no Sorcery cost, if anything such as a secret or a beneficial turn of a Sooth card would normally decrease the Sorcery cost, it provides no benefit. On the other hand, anything that would increase the Sorcery cost incurs an increase as if there had been a cost. For example, the Additional Target secret would require an expenditure of Sorcery equal to half the spell’s normal Sorcery cost.

VANCE SPELL PREPARATION

The preparation and study process takes a Vance about an hour. It requires quiet study with books and notes of their own creation. They’re of minimal use to anyone else, although a vislae could probably look at a Vance’s notes and suss out what spells they know. This hard-and-fast requirement of materials means a traveling Vance will likely have to bring a satchel for such materials wherever they go.

Stripped of their materials, a Vance can’t prepare Vance spells. A Vance can replace the books and notes on their own, but it requires about a day of work for every two Vance spells known.

The preparation can be done multiple times in one day, allowing a Vance to change out the spells they have in their mind. However, every time a Vance performs the preparation process, any currently active Vance spells deplete automatically.

A spell cannot be prepared more than once at a time, even if there is space.

VANCE SPELLS

You will find all the Vance spells on special cards sized to use in the diagram found on the Vance Spellcasting handout in the Black Cube. The cards themselves have all the spells’ individual details. There are also blank Cards for you to add your own, original spells. They are listed here for your convenience.

VANCE SPELL TABLES

ALPHA SPELLS

Name Level

Buella's Lamp 1

The Master's Blessing 1

Zuil's Profuse Admiration 1

Eyes of the Overworld 2

Norham’s Sea of Words 2

Pallent’s Mouthpiece 2

The Perilous Leap of the Desperate 2

Thelassin’s Eager Grasp 2

Watti’s Quick Servant 2

Zamrah’s Bolt of Sorrow 2

Lastra’s Charm 3

Lastra’s Neutral Color 3

Mirrored Flesh of the Glass Emperor 3

Moridiv’s Egregious Etiquette 3

Protecting Hand of the Divine 3

BETA SPELLS

Name Level

Abra's Physique 4

Formidable Fist of Fury 4

Haxel’s Sympathetic Tattoo 4

Maitlan’s Transfer of Power 4

Orrod’s Impossible Flood 4

Stare of the Abyss 4

Subuchin’s Thousandth Word 4

Untouchable Cloud 4

Uriale’s Vecordious Action 4

Aothrasal’s Vaporous Coercion 5

Furnour’s Fox 5

In the Grip of the Darkening Beast 5

Uzuskora’s Quadripartite Assault 5

Vision of the Nemesis 5

Zamrah’s Familiar Speech 5

GAMMA SPELLS

Name Level

Karko’s Bound Thought 6

Levin’s Puzzling Flaw 6

Melitizor’s Volant Defense 6

Novinin’s Forgetful Tone 6

Orrod’s Vanishing Swarm 6

The Pattern of Unwanted Mystery 6

Rain of Seething Fire 6

Soothing Touch of Flowering Queens 6

Touched by the Maelstrom 6

Canyons of Static 7

Laspi’s Impenetrable Course 7

Orabavon’s Emancipation 7

Styzen’s Cold Eye 7

OMEGA SPELLS

Name Level

Jeremgon’s Opalescent Knowledge 8

Orabavon’s Brazen Forbiddance 8

Jauro’s Fictive Form 9

The Spell of Reciprocal Apotheosis 9

Yavom’s Concave Difficulty 9

Baaroth’s Aggressive Dot 10

Rajimal’s Amputated Moment 10

CONVERTING NON-VANCIAN SPELLS

Vances may wish to learn other spells and use them in their Vancian spell method, storing them in their mind for later. This requires twice the amount of time to learn the spell in the first place, but no additional Acumen. A spell can be placed within a Vancian spell class using these guidelines:

Level 1–3 alpha class Level 4–5 beta class Level 6–7 gamma class Level 8–10 omega class

CONVERTING VANCIAN SPELLS

Should a Vance want to use a Vancian spell in a non-Vancian fashion—that is to say, simply casting it using Sorcery without first storing the spell in their mind—this is possible, but the spell must be converted. This requires twice the amount of time to learn the spell in the first place, but no additional Acumen. The spell then cannot be used in a Vancian fashion.

Should a non-Vance want to learn a Vancian spell so that it can be used in a non-Vancian fashion, this too is possible, but it requires a Vancian teacher, quadruple the normal amount of time to learn a spell of that level, and twice the Acumen cost. Most Vancians would never willingly teach someone not of their order, and in fact doing so would be grounds for punishment or even expulsion.